With one year and $7 million remaining on his contract, Redskins coach Mike Shanahan will not resign from his job and actually would like to return to Washington next season as long as he can run the organization the way he wants, according to multiple sources.
And despite speculation that the Redskins would fire Shanahan for cause, there is "no chance" that will happen in the words of a lawyer familiar with the contract.
Shanahan intends to sit down with Redskins owner Dan Snyder at the end of the season to see if they can agree on an arrangement that would work for both sides.
The arrangement would mean Snyder signing off on Shanahan playing the players he believes give the Redskins the best chance to win, a concept already in his contract but one he would like reinforced.
Shanahan wants a commitment from Snyder that, if the coach believes a player such as Kirk Cousins deserves to play over Robert Griffin III, he will be allowed to make the move.
Another Redskins official acknowledged the team will not attempt to fire Shanahan for cause and withhold the $7 million that is due to him for the 2014 season, whether or not he coaches Washington. The contract, in the words of one non-coaching source, is "ironclad."
The irony is that at the time Shanahan and the Redskins were finalizing their initial agreement, one member of the front office remarked that he was amazed at how many T's were being crossed and I's were being dotted. The contract might have saved Shanahan millions.
Following Sunday's 27-26 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Shanahan brushed off questions about his job status.
"I'm not going to talk about that," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.